who we are

If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.

—audre lorde

mission

The Women’s Center was originally founded by students 1971, and is currently staffed by a full-time Director, a Program Coordinator, and undergraduate and graduate students.

Our mission is to recognize and redress historic and persistent gender inequality at Princeton and beyond. To achieve this we help students learn from the history of women’s and other movements for social equality, and empower them to identify systems that reproduce gender inequity in the present and to envision and create a more just future.

why the name women*s center?

We keep the original name to honor the relatively brief history of women at Princeton, as well as to acknowledge the work that women have done through the years to make Princeton a more equitable place.

why the asterisk?

When you come upon an asterisk in your reading, you recognize it as a indication that there’s something more to learn. It can refer to an omission, or can direct you to read a note at the bottom of a page. We use the asterisk to suggest that we are much more than our name implies: the Center is not just for women nor is it just about women. We welcome and engage persons of all genders here, including genderqueer, nonconforming, transgender folks, and cisgender men.

staff

Amada Sandoval

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DIRECTOR

I joined the Women*s Center as director in 2001, after a few years as a graduate student here at Princeton in the English Department. In my capacity as director I get to learn from undergraduates, graduate students, other scholars, and staff; and occasionally teach undergraduates. In addition to my work at the Center I am a Faculty Fellow for the Women’s Track and Field Team, an Academic Adviser for Wilson College, and a founding sponsor of the Princeton Women’s Mentorship Program (PWMP). I grew up in Colorado and Missouri, and have been on the East Coast since college. Outside of work I enjoy cooking, practicing yoga, attending PU sports events, and talking about film and contemporary fiction. My doctoral work is on film noir, and hard-boiled detective fiction from the early 1940s.

Jordan Dixon

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PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Hello! I am a queer, anti-racist white woman, a mother, and ardent feminist. I use she/her/hers as my pronouns. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Vermont, and a Master’s degree in Student Affairs and Higher Education with a Women’s Studies Certificate from Colorado State University. In my role as Program Coordinator in the Women’s Center, I develop a calendar of extra-curricular programming to empower, challenge, support and inspire students around topics of feminism, gender equity, intersectionality, and social justice more broadly. My goal is to provide programming that will engage all students, so if you have an idea, I would love to hear from you!